November 15, 2018

When The Elephants Scuffle...

Facebook seems to materialize in this column an awful lot. But when a service has “connected” more than 2.2 billion people, I suppose that makes sense. The New York Times published a deep dive into the company, based on interviews with “more than 50 people,” many of whom are anonymous. We learn, for example, that the company hired a Republican opposition-research group to discredit protesters by linking them to George Soros, and that it lobbied a Jewish civil rights group to label criticism of Facebook as anti-Semitic. Just normal, cool, I-started-a-company-in-my-Harvard-dorm-room stuff.

One of the mice that got trampled as the elephants battled is the Republican oppo-research firm Definers Public Affairs, which lost Facebook as a client amidst the hue and cry. Facebok's position: senior execs knew nothing and anyway, the media knew full well that DPA had Facebook as a client:

Late Wednesday, Facebook decided to terminate its relationship with Definers after the publication of the Times article prompted an outcry, said a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Top Facebook executives including Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg were not aware of the specific work being done by Definers, the person said.

In a statement, Facebook said it had not hidden its ties to Definers and disputed that it had asked the firm to spread false information.

“It is wrong to suggest that we have ever asked Definers to pay for or write articles on Facebook’s behalf, or communicate anything untrue,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in the statement.

“The relationship with Facebook was well known by the media — not least because they have on several occasions sent out invitations to hundreds of journalists about important press calls on our behalf,” the spokeswoman added.

Well. We wouldn't expect Facebook to stand up to a left-wing mob. With a different alignment of politics and players the Times follow-up headline would be "Republicans Kvetch About Business As Usual".

Just for example, the Times also included this detail in their original expose (with a picture of the offending poster):

By then, some of the harshest criticism of Facebook was coming from the political left, where activists and policy experts had begun calling for the company to be broken up.

In July, organizers with a coalition called Freedom from Facebook crashed a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, where a company executive was testifying about its policies. As the executive spoke, the organizers held aloft signs depicting Ms. Sandberg and Mr. Zuckerberg, who are both Jewish, as two heads of an octopus stretching around the globe.

Eddie Vale, a Democratic public relations strategist who led the protest, later said the image was meant to evoke old cartoons of Standard Oil, the Gilded Age monopoly. But a Facebook official quickly called the Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish civil rights organization, to flag the sign. Facebook and other tech companies had partnered with the civil rights group since late 2017 on an initiative to combat anti-Semitism and hate speech online.

“Depicting Jews as an octopus encircling the globe is a classic anti-Semitic trope,” the organization wrote. “Protest Facebook — or anyone — all you want, but pick a different image.” The criticism was soon echoed in conservative outlets including The Washington Free Beacon, which has sought to tie Freedom from Facebook to what the publication calls “extreme anti-Israel groups.”

Hey, maybe the posters were meant to be anti-Semitic. Or maybe not! But it was lefties, so no biggie.

Comments

Paige has been moved out of NICU to their intermediate room for preemies as she is off the billi lights and is taking a bottle, but just not as much formula as the doc wants, so they are still feeding her by tube to get her the CCs of formula.

She should be home maybe this weekend!

LOL OL... I could just pretend to send it and keep the $100 for myself, too. ;)

The program, which will debut in fall 2019, aims to teach educators, or "scholar-activists," about social justice and how they can bring about change in the classroom setting, according to an NC State news release.

“The goal of the program is to help educators recognize and disrupt systems of oppression by helping to foster and create equitable learning environments,” Jessica DeCuir-Gunby, a professor of educational psychology and director of graduate programs for the Teacher Education and Learning Sciences Department, said in the news release.

...

Courses that are required to attain the Ph.D. in social justice education include “Social Justice in Education,” “Diversity & Equity Scholar Leader Course,” and more.

NCSU College Republicans chairman Kye Laughter told Campus Reform he views this new Ph.D. program as a way to push social justice on future students.

“I think any person pursuing a degree or a Ph.D. in social justice already has an agenda in mind and this field will only allow bias to grow not only among those in academia but for those being taught this dangerous ideology,” Laughter said.

The chairman also suggested that the program shows that the university has a double standard, contending that a Ph.D. in a conservative thought field would never be created.

“Our university should not be afraid of discussing different ideas, but I am doubtful we will see any Ph.D. programs in conservative ideologies anytime soon, as academia has been infested with liberalism,” Laughter said, while noting that the university excels in fields like agriculture, engineering, and architecture.

If the Junior Johnson Wine & Spirits Club doesn't deliver to their house you could call a local shop and pay for something for them to pick up. Like an NFA transfer. They just have to show their ID, right? It's more or less what FTD does.

Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar came out against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement during her campaign, but after winning election, she now says she "supports the BDS movement."

Omar, a Muslim Somali-American elected last week to replace outgoing Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) in the House, fought accusations that she held anti-Israel views during her campaign. As part of that effort, she told a group of Jewish voters in the state that she opposed the economic boycott of Israel, calling it "counteractive" and "not helpful in getting that two-state solution."

But Omar's tune has changed since winning the election. In an interview published Sunday by MuslimGirl, Omar said she "supports the BDS movement."

"Ilhan believes in and supports the BDS movement, and has fought to make sure people’s right to support it isn’t criminalized," her campaign told MuslimGirl, which said Omar had been criticized for coming out against BDS. Omar's campaign also pointed MuslimGirl to her vote against an anti-BDS bill in Minnesota's state legislature and her argument that boycott movements were successful in South Africa.

The comment is seen as a complete reversal by members of the Jewish community in her district.

“Our university should not be afraid of discussing different ideas, but I am doubtful we will see any Ph.D. programs in conservative ideologies anytime soon, as academia has been infested with liberalism,” Laughter said, while noting that the university excels in fields like agriculture, engineering, and architecture.

I'm sure iNCeST was trying to preempt the Holes by doing this but it's such a Moo U thing.